Passenger door panel comes loose

[JohnnyC]

I have a 96 coupe and pretty much everytime the passenger door is opened or closed (not sure which exactly causes the problem), the door panel seems to pop off the top part of the door along the sill window. It starts near the top corner towards the back and makes it about 1/2 way along the door. This is easily fixed by me just pushing it back on, as it seems to "fall" off the top and I just snap it back on.

There is a very small, 1/2 inch cut toward the front, at the top of the panel, near where the fuse box is, but i dont see how this would effect anything. The cut is hidden behind the dash when the door is closed.

Can my door be hanging up on the door frame somehow or is there better fasteners available. All the screws and everything seem to be in place.

I don't have alot of passengers for me to be overly concerned, but it is s*cks when i do have a passenger and the door panel falls off. It lowers their "perfect" image of the Corvette they have in their mind.

Any suggestions for a fix?

Thanks,
John

I'll try to get some pics if they would help.

 

[rrubel]

my 86's driver door panel did the same thing when I bought the car. The lip that slips over the door frame was cracked in a couple places and any pull-stress would pop it off.
[RICHR]

 

[Gorgon]

I'd be interested in some pics. Both my door panels come loose easily, though not at the close of a door.

Leon

 

[JohnnyC]

I have no problems with the driver side door at all. And that gets 1000 times more use. I'll try to get some pics over the weekend.

John

 

[secondchance]

I had a same problem w/ my 94.
If you remove plastic retainers at the bottom of the door panel(carefully or buy some from the dealer before doing this), you will most probably notice that the hole on the metal panel of the door is higher than the hole on the door panel. This allows door panel to move up higher than intended and the lip slips off the metal panel on top.
You can devise a plastic insert to add to the bottom of door panel hole to keep the panel from rising. Or, fill the hole w/ backing and punch a new hole.
Or fill the hole, or holes, on the door panel, patch the hole on the metal panel of door(last hole w/ sheet metal and screws) and instead of plstic retainer use black sheet metal screw and trim the plastic tab and use it to cover the metal screw w/ black silicone.
I used the first method and its holding.

 

[LT1Vettepilot]

Aftert pulling my door panels apart to change the weather stripping, my driver's door does the same thing. I ended up putting a slit in the weather stripping where the door panel pops over it and putting in a "re-enforcing plate" made from a slim piece of plastic. That worked...for a while. Now it rubber is all torn to bits and it doesn't stay on at all. I've got new weather stripping waiting to be installed now and I'm going to see what else I can do for the door panel while its apart. I never had a problem until I pulled it apart though. Right after it started and prior to enforcing it, I pulled the panel back off and found 3 of the "rbs" in the curved portion of the door cracked. I clamped the panel together to collapse the cracks together, drilled small holes in the ribs on either side of the crack and sewed the ribs back together with saftey wire...followed with a layer of fiberglass matte to make it all one piece again. I haven't pulled the panel off since I did that to see if it held the cracks together or not, but like I said, the door panel is still coming off. I'll be working on it this weekend though...putting in the new weather stripping and seeing if I can fix the panel problem

 

[LT1Vettepilot]

That only works on the earlier C4s...in the later ones (not sure when, but I know the 94-96 is this way) the weather stripping is notched for the upper door panel. The door panel basically wraps around windw opening, locks into the weather stripping slots, screws (3) behind the door handle, and the pressed tabs at the bottom of the door. Not much to hold it in place.

 

[JohnnyC]

Ok, heres what I found out by closer examination.

LT1Vettepilot, you are right. I looked inside the panel, and found that 3 or 4 of the reinforcing "ribs" at the top of the door panel, where it curves over the window sill are cracked all the way back

The best I have is fishing line, but I was going to go with some krazy glue or epoxy first, then try to get some pieces to clamp on either side of the rib. Maybe plastic or metal fastener things, what ever i can find at Home Depot. I'll try to take it apart this weekend and see what happens.

Boy, I do not want to buy a new door panel.

Thanks,
John

 

[LT1Vettepilot]

New door panels are about $500 each...and if you have a red interior like I do, the driver's side door panel is non-existant!
I pulled my door panel off last night and changed the weather stripping out. The saftey wire/fiberglass repair I made was still holding strong, but I discovered that the door panel was too high up on the door for the curved ribs to catch the door. I pulled the panel down lower and realized the holes in the lower door panel didn't line up with the holes in the door...when they were lined up, the door panel was too high. So I pulled the door panel down low enough to keep from popping off, found a grommet the size of the push pin holes with a small center hole in it. Then used a wood 1/4 inch wood screw and secured the grommet inside of the door panel hole with the screw going into the fiberglass door about 1/4 of an inch below the factory hole. That pulled the door panel down just enough to make everything fit tight...Viola! Door panel no longer pops off. I cut off othe button head from the factory push pin retainers and glued it over the grommet and screw, looks just like factory and everything works.

 

[JohnnyC]

I took my door panel off and gonna make holes below the factory "slots". I am going to try to reuse the factory plugs by making the same size holes, below the existing slots.

But, did this effect your door handle bezel position/fit?

Thanks for the adivse,
John

 

[LT1Vettepilot]

I took my door panel off and gonna make holes below the factory "slots". I am going to try to reuse the factory plugs by making the same size holes, below the existing slots.

But, did this effect your door handle bezel position/fit?

Thanks for the adivse,
John

No it didn't affect anything else. The only hole I changed was the outer most one. This pulled down on the end of the door that mounts into the rubber weatherstripping. Moving that one hole down 1/4 inch worked wonders. Note, I did already have the screws installed and tightened in all other locations.

 

[vms4evr]

This is a known problem. And my passenger door does it to. I tried using velcro on the back and some and a few other bright ideas. None worked that well. I'm going to check the screws on the bottom. My panel does seem to sit too high. But it also looks like it is warped.

There is a TSB from the factory on this. TSB# 118781. And a factory fix. Part # 10082829 (right hand door). I didn't have any luck with the local dealer but maybe if you search some of the online GM parts direct outfits you may find one.

Graham

 

[intruder9]

Having the same problem.
I've got a '91 and never had a problem until I updated the door panels with '94's. I've only got a problem with fitment on the passenger side.
From what I can tell, the only thing that is holding the panel up off of the top lip of the door is the piece of angled metal that you screw the arm rest to.
My solution (that I have not yet tried but I have been thinking about this for while!) will be to remove the door panel and drill out the rivet that holds the piece of angled metal to the door. Then screw the piece of angled metal back to the panel back where its supposed to be and put a little construction adhesive (unless I find something better) on the backside of it. Reinstall the panel and put some pressure on the armrest to get it to stick to the door metal.
After it dries, I'll unscrew the angled metal piece from the armrest. Remove the door panel and drill a new hole thru the angled metal and door metal. Then put a pop rivet in its new home. Re-install the door panel and, Voila'! Fixed door panel!

And that's my idea for repairing the door panel.